PRINCETON, NJ -- Despite the recent drop in the U.S. fertility rate, Americans' attitudes about having children have remained unchanged over the past 23 years. More than nine in 10 adults say they already have children, are planning to have children, or wish that they had had children.
Phylum. Starfish belong to the phylum Echinodermata, which is the largest phylum without any members that live on land or in fresh water. Echinoderms have five-point radial symmetry as adults, but are bilaterally symmetrical as larvae. They have an endoskeleton consisting of calcareous plates that often include spines.upiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images. Although fish and starfish both belong to the kingdom Animalia -- which is the largest division of taxonomic classification -- starfish lack a spine, and therefore belong to a different phylum than true fish.
Starfish are marine invertebrates or echinoderms in the class Asteroidea. Scientists, therefore, prefer to call them sea stars. There are 1,800 to 2,000 species of sea stars that vary in size, color and other characteristics. We think of the sea star with five appendages, but some sea stars can have many more arms.